Students from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, one of the top 20 business schools in the country, want to tackle real-world problems, not textbook examples.

So Cornell Associate Professor Robert Bloomfield has developed a program that will allow his accounting classes to spend time analyzing challenges to actual businesses. Each participating company gets more than 40 hours of faculty and student time devoted to matching their needs and competitive situation with the most appropriate type of accounting system.

In past years, students have worked with non-profit organizations, wineries, veterinarians, contractors and manufacturers to figure out the best way to bid for jobs, maintain quality, price new products and provide goods and services efficiently. Students will write a report that identifies the recurring decisions critical to a business and describe in detail the accounting system a company should adopt.

In one case, a high-tech manufacturer needed to estimate costs so it could effectively bid on contracts. Students devised an activity-based costing system that could accurately calculate how much it would cost to fulfill each contract, making it much easier for the company to make appropriate bids.

After two meetings with company representatives, students will work with faculty members to create a report that describes the company's competitive pressures, the type of cost accounting system that is recommended and how to use the reports to improve decision-making.

For more information, contact Robert Bloomfield at (607) 255-9407.